Qualitative assessment of cervical spinal stenosis: observer variability on CT and MR images.

Background And Purpose: Several studies have been undertaken to validate quantitative methods of evaluating cervical spinal stenosis. This study was performed to assess the degree of interobserver and intraobserver agreement in the qualitative evaluation of cervical spinal stenosis on CT myelograms and MR images.

Methods: Cervical MR images and CT myelograms of 38 patients were evaluated retrospectively.

Radiographic analysis of pisotriquetral joint and pisiform motion.

We evaluated 45 wrists of normal volunteers fluoroscopically (15) and radiographically (30) to determine the optimal radiographic technique for profiling the pisotriquetral (PT) joint and to assess the pisiform motion. Real-time fluoroscopy showed that 4 views are necessary for optimal PT joint and pisiform visualization: wrist neutral/30 degrees forearm supination, wrist extension/30 degrees forearm supination, and active plus passive wrist flexion/45 degrees forearm supination with thumb abduction. Excursion percentage of the PT articular surface apposition on video imaging occurred 10% proximally in neutral, 20% distally in extension, and 40% proximally in flexion.